Xeureka Accelerates AI Drug Discovery with Cutting-edge Supercomputer Powered by NVIDIA, Launches Tokyo-1 Project for Leading Pharmaceutical Companies in Japan
May 31, 2023
Xeureka, Inc. (“Xeureka”, Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO:Akiko Mutai) announced at the NVIDIA GTC global AI conference held on March 21 – 24, 2023, that it launched a new project called Tokyo-1 to build a high-speed, large-capacity supercomputer system and provide cutting-edge AI solutions to boost the efficiency of AI drug discovery development in Japan. The project, providing services for Japanese pharmaceutical companies, will be built on the high-performance NVIDIA DGX H100 AI supercomputer.
The pharmaceutical industry faces a number of industrial challenges, such as high R&D costs, which are said to total more than 100 billion yen for the development of one new drug, a success rate of less than 1%, and a long development period of 10 to 20 years. In response to these hurdles, advanced international pharmaceutical companies have been utilizing supercomputers and cutting-edge AI technologies in their drug discovery process. However, in Japan, such resources are in short supply. Tokyo-1 will provide Japanese pharmaceutical companies with access to the supercomputer and cutting-edge AI technology to support them in conducting efficient drug discovery development and improving its success rate. By providing supercomputers and AI technology to pharmaceutical companies in Japan, Xeureka will contribute to a future that enables the rapid delivery of better medicines to patients suffering from illnesses.
As part of the Tokyo-1 project, Xeureka will build a supercomputer system in Japan and provide access and related services to several Japanese pharmaceutical companies that have already endorsed this project (Astellas Pharma Inc., Ono Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. and other major Japanese pharmaceutical companies). Xeureka will also operate a community to support innovation in drug discovery development.
This project will be bolstered by the capabilities of the NVIDIA AI platform and access to NVIDIA’s ecosystem, which will enable Tokyo-1 to be a national innovation hub for AI drug discovery in Japan. The supercomputer built by Xeureka is comprised of state-of-the-art NVIDIA DGX H100 systems, and Xeureka will receive technical support from NVIDIA for its system integration and operation. Participating companies will be able to leverage NVIDIA software to accelerate workloads for drug discovery development. Xeureka will also work with NVIDIA to connect Tokyo-1 users with the hundreds of global life science customers in NVIDIA’s developer network.
Meanwhile, Xeureka plans to provide cutting-edge AI technologies, such as large-scale simulation and AI-based large-scale machine-learning-related solutions, and new solutions developed and provided by emerging domestic and international AI start-up companies. Xeureka also plans to collaborate with members of NVIDIA Inception, a program that provides free business and technical support to start-ups all over the world.
While the competitiveness of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry has been declining year over year compared to in the U.S., Europe, and China due to the delayed utilization of supercomputers and AI, Xeureka will contribute to the digital transformation and improvement of global competitiveness of Japanese pharmaceutical companies through Tokyo-1.
【Xeureka, Inc.】
- Head Office: 6th Floor, Otemachi One Tower, 1-2-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0004 Japan
- Representative: Akiko Mutai
- Establishment: November, 2021
- Shareholder: Mitsui & C, Ltd (100%)
- Business description: Providing AI drug discovery support services for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and promoting joint research and development for drug discovery